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Back The Darkest Shore Save as PDF
Chapters (76)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Also by Karen Brooks
  4. Title Page
  5. Dedication
  6. EXPLANATORY NOTE
  7. PART ONE
  8. One
  9. Two
  10. Three
  11. Four
  12. Five
  13. Six
  14. Seven
  15. Eight
  16. Nine
  17. Ten
  18. Eleven
  19. Twelve
  20. Thirteen
  21. Fourteen
  22. Fifteen
  23. Sixteen
  24. Seventeen
  25. Eighteen
  26. Nineteen
  27. Twenty
  28. Twenty-One
  29. Twenty-Two
  30. Twenty-Three
  31. Twenty-Four
  32. Twenty-Five
  33. Twenty-Six
  34. Twenty-Seven
  35. Twenty-Eight
  36. PART TWO
  37. Twenty-Nine
  38. Thirty
  39. Thirty-One
  40. Thirty-Two
  41. Thirty-Three
  42. Thirty-Four
  43. Thirty-Five
  44. PART THREE
  45. Thirty-Six
  46. Thirty-Seven
  47. Thirty-Eight
  48. Thirty-Nine
  49. Forty
  50. Forty-One
  51. Forty-Two
  52. Forty-Three
  53. Forty-Four
  54. Forty-Five
  55. Forty-Six
  56. Forty-Seven
  57. Forty-Eight
  58. Forty-Nine
  59. Fifty
  60. Fifty-One
  61. Fifty-Two
  62. PART FOUR
  63. Fifty-Three
  64. Fifty-Four
  65. Fifty-Five
  66. Fifty-Six
  67. Fifty-Seven
  68. Fifty-Eight
  69. Fifty-Nine
  70. Sixty
  71. Sixty-One
  72. Epilogue: Autumn 1706
  73. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  74. GLOSSARY
  75. LIST OF CHARACTERS
  76. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Sorcha left her friends to help the other wives and jumped off the harbour wall and wandered along the shore. She headed towards the skerries, kicking the occasional rock, throwing up the coarse sand with the toes of her boots. With the arrival of spring, the snow was gradually ceding to frost and sea-driven fogs, even allowing the sun its brief moment on the stage. Today, the sun had no such impediments and tentative fingers yearned across the heaving Forth to bathe her with their warmth, a warmth that didn’t reach her insides. Damn Captain Ross. Just when she’d started to think he was different to other men, he acted in a manner that turned all her feelings into a maelstrom.

She picked up a pebble, weighing it in her palm, and flung it as far out to sea as she could. She watched the splash it made without satisfaction. Why did she care so much? Why did her chest feel so heavy and her eyes burn? It was because of what had happened to Bel — Isobel Courie.

Bel was a single woman about whom the reverend had spoken in harsh terms due to her predilection for the soldiers stationed about the town. A week ago, Bel had told Sorcha and Nettie she was pregnant. Worse, it turned out the father of her unborn bairn was a Corporal Robert Varner who, she’d just learned, was already married. Sorcha wasted no time seeking out the captain and encouraged Bel to confess all to him.

Expecting the corporal to be punished for using and abusing Bel, Sorcha discovered that far from disciplining the man, Captain Ross, on the advice of the kirk, sent him away. Robert Varner was rowed out to a man-o’-war late one night, never to be seen again. Furious at what she saw as his lack of accountability, last night Sorcha had marched straight to where Captain Ross was staying. She felt she owed it to Bel to say something. Anyway, hadn’t the captain told her she could ask him anything? In her mind that included telling him things as well — including things he mightn’t be so inclined to hear.

Much to her chagrin, he was more amused by her anger than apologetic.

Invited to step inside, she’d refused to move beyond the entry hall. He waited till she’d spent her fury before he responded.

‘Mrs McIntyre, I assure you, Isobel Courie is much better off without the likes of Corporal Varner in her life.’

‘Easy for you to say,’ snapped Sorcha, ‘being a man. You no more care about a woman without a husband, without a father for her bairn, never mind means of support, than you do where you put your quhillylillie.’ She flicked her hand in the direction of his groin.